The Grocery Store

This is the most important place in the book. Morris Bober takes on the grocery store when he gives up his dreams for education and travel, when he gets married and begins a family. Morris is saved and trapped by the store at the same time. The attempted robbery takes place in the store.

The grocery store is both a burden and a blessing to the Bobers. Morris and Ida are trapped by it. Ida's feet and legs hurt too much to work enough, but she still feels obliged to try. Helen is trapped by the store because she cannot go to school, as the grocery does not produce sufficient income. Frank uses the store as a way to redemption. He struggles there to learn honesty, which he did not learn as a child growing up in foster homes and dangerous situations. He uses the...